Archive for June, 2012

It will be 37 years since the country went into its darkest period in its post Independence period. This was when the Congress slammed Emergency on the country-gagged all freedom of speech-rights were abolished and slavery of a modern type was imposed. This was the Congress party’s autocratic tyrannical rule. Political leaders and human rights activists were thrown into jails. Yet this party is in power today. It is an irony of destiny that we the people should have allowed this Congress party to continue as a political party. And what with such a past its present is no better. The autocratic mindset, the antidemocratic structural edifice, the anti-people contours of the party are all there very much to be mirrored in all its actions even today after 37 years of the imposition of Emergency. This party should be banned from politics and yet it is there. It has taken a new avatar-dynastic baptism which is anti-democratic. Its political dealings are barter system. Just imagine offering the envoy’s post of Mauritius to Sangma if he withdrew from running for the post of President. This has been its way of buying and selling –scams and corruption ridden the Congress is the curse of the country. Yet we the people have tolerated this party which should have long been thrown into the dustbin of history. Look at its President-non-Indian-uneducated and a person with no accountability to anyone. A creation of a super structure which is anti-constitution called the NAC and she Mrs Sonia Gandhi heads it. Her son being projected as the next Prime Minister who seems always to be lost in the woods. He does not even understand what takes place in the Parliament. Why should we the people of India accept such a situation?
On the eve of the commemoration of the Emergency we the people must resolve to bring in true democracy. Not one which goes by the word democracy but in content and spirit. From the time Mrs Sonia Gandhi came to the centre stage of power all democracy and its institutions were bypassed. It was not election but selection by one person which was the mode of appointments to constitutional posts. The wheeling dealing had opened the flood gates to scams and corruption. Never in the history of this country in its post Independence period had any government been so deep necked in corruption and scams. Every department and most of the politicians are involved. Yet Mrs Sonia Gandhi goes about as a saint.
A Prime Minister who is remotely controlled-a dual leadership with one holding the control and the other a namesake. This has to go. It is a tryst with destiny that the media is after Modi-one who then as a youth fought against Emergency but for reasons best known to itself the media has put him to trial-condemned him and want to demolish him in the political arena this because of the money power of the Congress? Day in and day out the newspapers are filled with Modi-Modi bashing has reached dizzy heights. It seems that this is the media’s hobby. If it is electronic media then prime time the debate is on Modi.And Modi’s candidature as Prime Minister. What it means to the NDA. Not a word of the Congress. Even when the Congress lost miserable in the recently held elections in Andhra Pradesh there was just a mention of it. No detailed analysis. What if Modi lost a bye election the media would dance and prance and pull all stops to give an incisive analysis. One cannot understand this. There are two yardsticks-one for Modi and the Gujarat riots into which he is shrouded and blanketed by the media. It is another matter that till date the SIT and the SC have not faulted him or held him guilty. But the media has.
Take the Congress party all the ills of the country-the number of people murdered and butchered and the burning of people during the Sikh riots-the Bhopal gas tragedy-the biggest global industrial disaster for which the Congress and the Congress alone is accountable One should not forget the plight of the Kashmiri pundits –their killings- driven out of their homes these and more are silently and conveniently swept aside. The nation must move ahead is what P.Chidamabaram holds out as advice to we the people. But when it comes to the Gujarat riots the nation is freezed and fixed at that point.

Now the latest Congress bungle- regarding the candidature for the President. It should have taken the Opposition on board. But as a usual it is too arrogant and Mrs Sonia Gandhi-one woman decides. The party expects others to fall in line. Can Pranab Mukherjee be allowed to race to the Rastrapathi Bhavan without a contest? Pranab Mukherjee must have been the trouble shooter for the Congress but as far as the nation is concerned the economy is in the doldrums because of his inability to apply sound strategies to lift the economy.Even stern austerity measures he was unable to impose, his lack of conviction and application of mind to bring back the blackmoney stashed in tax havens-his mishandling of the finances has made the economy to plunge to dangerous levels. It is no consolation to point at world economy or world crude prices for the heavy burden imposed on the aam admi. If he has five decades of service to the nation one must question if the period of serve to the nation is the yardstick then why did the Congress choose Mrs Pratibha Patil as the President? What service record has she unless one counts her tea brewing for Mrs Indira Gandhi and her kitchen services for the Gandhi family as services to the nation? So when it comes to the Congress it uses different yardsticks for selection and expects the other parties to mutely accept it. This is a democracy and contest is part of a democracy. Or the Opposition should have been taken into confidence and the Congress should have worked for a consensus. There are cases in which Pranab Mukherjee figures. The Shah Commission report is there and one must not forget that it is during his tenure that the G2 Spectrum erupted. Should we consider all these as services to the nation?

Now media gist to grind is -Modi as a Prime Minister candidate is being furiously and loudly discussed. First and foremost this is undemocratic. No party should project the candidate for Prime Minister. Let the elections take place and then the parliamentarians of the various parties should elect their respective leaders. It is for the largest Party which is called upon to form the government to have the freedom by vote to choose its own Prime Minister candidate. It is neither through selection-nor appointment nor by projecting a pre-election candidate can this be ensured. The need is to uphold the true spirit of democracy. So what is the hurry for Modi to be projected and targeted at? This is a wilful demolishing strategy to only hurt and harm his prospectus and also to turn upside down the democratic process and vitiate the whole process and place road blocks during the electioneering campaigns. It is up to the Congress to project its Prime Minister candidate which does not obligate the BJP to follow suit.
It is sickening to behold the media and its bias one agenda point day in and day out- focus on Modi.But perhaps its bias is going to boomerang. Modi has his own plus points and is accepted by the people .It will be for people to decide but the media is in its over zealous anti-Modi propaganda is actually helping Modi to garner greater good will.The more the media engages in Modi bashing the more good will it create for Modi because he is perceived as the victim bludgeoned and battered by the media.So I think Modi admirers must thank the media for its unsolicited help to burnish the image of Modi-a true patriot who at the age of 25 stood against Emergency and engaged in a hard struggle against it.
Dr Mrs Hilda Raja
Vadodara.

“When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to
dismount and get a different horse.”

However, in government, education and corporate life, more advanced
strategies are often employed, such as:
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead
horses.
5. Lowering the standards so that the dead horse can be included.

6. Reclassifying the dead horse as ‘living impaired’.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
9. Providing additional funding and / or training to increase dead horse’s
performance.
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the
dead horse’s performance.
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less
costly, carries lower overheads and therefore contributes substantially more
to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
And, of course,
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position!
Right ?

The above was sent to me by a friend without any comments .As I went through it I found it so aptly describing the Congress led UPA government. Day in and day out what we read in the papers are the scams.There seem to be no end to the scams and the corruption. If the Congress is really concerned – and sensitive on the issue of corruption then it should support Baba Ramdev.Instead all these years it has been abetting and directly involved in corruptions when the Civil society and the Opposition thunders and roars about corruption instead of lending all support it finds fault and points at Karnataka.The PM urges the party to fight ‘canard,and falsehoods.Does he mean that all these scams and corruption are canard and falsehoods.?

It is ridiculous to find it sent the CBI to harass and probe Jaganmohan Reddy.Till recently he was with the Congress and everything was fine. Did he accumulate all his wealth and assets after he left the Congress party ?The CBI is the whipping lash of the Congress.It holds it ready-Every time it wants to take revenge or threaten then the whip is used .Otherwise it is held back. This is the reason why Mulayam and Mayawati are very cautious. That such a functioning is anti people is no concern of the Congress.Power by all means-it has no political morality or public accountability.It has klost all credibility of being people’respresentatives.Because even in this it cobbles up an alliance even with diametrically opposing ideology and principles.It is least concern with some sense of right and wrong.

Adimuthu Raja can now visit Tamilnadu.He has been fed and well taken care of with the tax payers money for the last one year.He poises as a hero and I am sure will also get a hero’s welcome in Tamilnadu.Kanimozhi struts around as a heroine.The fact is that all those who are involved in scams and are alleged in corruption cases are shameless and walk around as heros and heroines what is the problem. That public probity is at zero level.

The media is no doubt doing some public washing of dirty linen but not entered into a cleansing mode. It is more obsessed with Modi and the BJP.Not a day passes when the papers are void of Modi bashing and the internal problems of the BJP.But when it comes to the Congress which is anti-democratic-dynastic, monolithic and one woman rule there is no bashing. If a Congress man in Kanyakumar has to sneeze he has to get the okay from the High Command.This the media simply ignores it..

Why this obsession and phobia for Modi?Is the media apid to do this?It even watches out who shook hands with Modi-how long the hand shake was-who hugged Modi and who exchanged pleasantries with Modi.Is it not simple courtesy to shake hands with a CM ?When one can hug and shake hands with Pakistani counterparts and Chinese officials why not Modi?Is Modi the enemy of this country? Similarly I found it rather cheap and uncalled for the news item of Nitin Gadkari touching the feet of Baba Ramdev.

“Gadkari falls at Ramdev’s feet”This became even a topic for a panel discussion on one of the channels. What is so intriguing in this. It is the culture of India to respect every swamiji and this is expressed by touching their feet.If the feet of corrupt politicians can be touched and even prostrated before why not gurus ? What is there is read into it? Did not Indira Gandhi prostrate before Swamijis?Did not Rajiv Gandhi go to the tree abode of a naked swamiji and seek his blessings which he gave by placing his foot on RG’s head? So what is strange and new in this gesture of Nitin Gadkari touching the feet of Baba Ramdev?Is it because the gesture was by the President of the BJP party and the swami was Baba Ramdev?

The open bias of the media is complete wrong because the media has a role to play. To project that which is correct and not give its own version.This it can do in its editorials.But why this special treatment for the BJP and Modi.?

Now to come to the dead horse which I mentioned reflects the Congress led UPA government’s non/governance. If there is any governance at all.From the time Manmohan Singh was and is the PM it is a committee/panel raj. Now it is the Group of empowered ministers’ raj.What are the ministers usual routine work? Why every time an issue comes a Go E M is being formed to deal with it. Should one think that in the normal routine the ministers have no powers and no work but gather their salaries and their perks and use the tax payers money unabashedly? Parliament has ceased to be a constructive forum and major decisions are made outside the Parliament

If the dead horse does not run then get a stronger whip-otherwise write it off as less productive and say that in the bargain it brings government profit because there is no expenditure on it. Another strategy is to harness other dead horses with it and see if some strength comes into it. Rewrite the expected performances of horses-dead or alive. Form an empowered group of ministers to study the dead horse and its non functioning. Take a few years to get the report ready. If this is not feasible then a retired SC Judge can be engaged for a huge salary to look into all the aspects why the dead horse is not functioning. This and more to come….The enormous waste of time-funds and lack of sensitivity to the problems of the aam admi and the nation can be gauged by the programs the NAC has envisaged. Like arm chair democracy which we have these programs are structured theoretically and not practically

Take a look at one of the flagship programs of the UPA It was simply unrealistic to think and envisage that this would eradicate poverty or help the aam admi to get one square meal for the whole family. But it was Mrs SoniaGandhi’s pet project-as though it was her brain child.One of the ministers have found fault with it the NREGP.Suddenly this minister(Ramesh Jairam) is enlightened. How can one go on creating community assets he asks. This program in a smaller way area wise was implemented in the late 60s under the Food for Work program. It was then community assets creating. Silting of ponds,leveling of land,planting of trees etc.Now the ponds have disappeared and the land under the grab land movement of the political class have all become individual assets so where is the community asset creation for this NREGP?It is a huge waste-A corruption channel created by the NAC for its own reasons.So then lets get a new a few more dead horses and tie them up to the first dead one and see whether it has strength to run.

This is the kind of renaming and restructing of programs that has been already there.-from the 20th Point Program till date.The same can be said of the Food Security.Act.The Public distribution system is a very effective and lucrative channel for corruption.The problem with Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her NAC is the fact that they are unconstitutional and undemocractic.Mrs Sonia Gandhi has a patronizing attitude and thus it means throw some crumbs to the straving millions.It does not matter if the rodents are well fed and the grains are rotting.Nobody kicks up a row against Pawar for this.It means there is no storing place-or it means that we had a bumper crop etc.But then why should the people go hunger on both these counts?

Mrs Sonia Gandhi and of course her son Rahul Gandhi do not have sensible questions and hence does not raise these.It is sharing roti with a dalit woman peeping into her backyard and of course strutting round canvassing for the votes to bring in change,.What change is anybody;s guess.Rahul Gandhi is with rural India but lives in urban India.He thinks acts and lives as an ultra urbanite. His sister Priyanka Vadra can with a toss of her head raze a two storied house to the ground in Himachal Pradesh-because it did not suit her fancy.So another one is coming up in .These are the people who shed crocodile tears for the poor and who are going to change the fate of the poor.Callous to money spending-luxurious living and spending have made them insensitive to reality. What can one expect from this family?

To comeback to the dead horse non functioning-meaning here the government- why not send a team to Pakistan to study how poverty is being tackled? The Foreign minister will help in arranging the tour. Yes rewriting the blueprint and creating a new one. Why not? When poverty numbers and PL has been juggled and pulled and stretched to meet the requirements of the Planning Commission’s vision. Why not open to FDI the economy will suddenly bloom. If nothing works why not lease the government or put it for auction to the highest bidder. The present political class has nothing to lose because their kitties are safe and the tax havens are direct routes for their operations. By the way one hardly hears of Hasan Ali Khan and the crores of tax he has to pay. Let’s wait for another Finance Minister to deal with that. Till then the focus is on who will be the next rider of this dead horse. What good a few persons like Modi does must be destroyed in the meantime and the dead horse must become be kept in cold storage. It is the rider for this dead horse which the nation must go to the elections in a couple of years to elect then mount him/her and a make believe world created that the dead horse is fine and will bring redemption to the starving people once a new rider mounts it. After all this is not very difficult because make believe world is what the Congress wants the nation to believe in.

We have a PM who cannot see-cannot speak and cannot hear. He is a robot with a remote control connection Lets wait for the rider of the dead horse in the next elections.Long live the corrupt and the scamesters Long live the bloodsuckers of the society.Long live the Congress and its scams,long live the non governing UPA Poor INDIA